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#KC Social Media Command Center: Diary of a FanatiKC

I’m snacking on some sweet potato fries from Blanc Burger and creating a Twitter list of MLB All-Star Game athletes to monitor. It’s my fourth day stationed at the #KC Social Media Command Center, and I’m exhausted but cheerful.

When questions or comments come through the console that require an answer, we send those tweets to one of our SMCKC volunteers stationed at the command center.

The volunteer researches the information and responds.

Ta da!

While most of the volunteers handle Twitter customer service and response, there are other social media efforts taking shape in the Command Center, housed at H&R Block Headquarters in downtown Kansas City:

Volunteers are favoriting tweets to populate the #KC Social Media Hub, a cool microsite that gives you a bird’s eye view of the #KC conversation.

Jenna Bromberg from H&R Block curates content for the VisitKC Tumblr, and also coordinates all of our giveaways (Home Run Derby tickets! Passes to the World War I Museum! T-shirts!).

And me? I’m managing all of the outgoing posts from VisitKC, curating content and sharing everything from photos of Erin Andrews at Kauffman Stadium to tweets from the KCPD about road closures. I’m also posting to the Facebook and Google+ pages, managing giveaways and coordinating information for the volunteers to send out.

There’s a buzz in the Command Center as the volunteers research answers to the questions flying in through our Radian6 engagement console. We have a lot of people asking about restaurants, specifically BBQ, and many folks are trying to plot out their transportation to Kauffman Stadium for the Home Run Derby the next day.

“Hey guys, gates to the K open at 4:00 pm on Monday!”

Problem solved.

Sunday, 7:07 pm:

A exciting milestone! We just hit our 1,000th response in the #KC Command Center. @WaldoPatty tweeted to us asking where she could purchase FanFest tickets for her family, so we surprised her with two tickets. The surprise and delight part of the Command Center has been really fun. We’ve sent people to FanFest and other #ASG events, as well as to great Kansas City attractions and restaurants like Legoland and Westport Cafe.

Monday, 11:04 am:

Mayor Sly James is here, visiting for the second time. He’s wearing a #KC Spark hat and his signature bowtie as he thanks the volunteers for their time and dedication to Kansas City. We’re also giving tours to some ladies from the Missouri Tourism Division. Local television anchor Kris Ketz toured the Command Center earlier this morning, and we’re expecting the charity group Biking for Baseball to stop by later this afternoon. We love the community interest in the Command Center.

The winner of our Home Run Derby ticket giveaway, photo courtesy of Jenna Bromberg